IRVING, TEXAS (March 4, 2009) After leading UTEP to an 18-5 record and 11-5 mark in conference play, junior guard Jareica Hughes received her second consecutive Conference USA Player of the Year award as announced by the conference office Wednesday. Hughes becomes just the third player in league history to win back-to-back Player of the Year accolades. Chandi Jones (2002-04) of Houston remains the only three-time honoree, while Memphis' Tamika Whitmore won consecutive awards in 1998 and 1999.
The league also handed out additional hardware as Tulane's Indira Kaljo was voted C-USA Newcomer of the Year and Hughes' teammate Dietra Caldwell was selected as the league's Freshman of the Year.
Sophomore G/F Tanesha Washington of Southern Miss came off the bench to win the league's Sixth Player of the Year award, while Brittany Gilliam of regular season champion SMU pocketed the 2009 C-USA Defensive Player of the Year honor. In just her second season as head coach at UCF, Joi Williams captured Coach of the Year honor.
Hughes enters this week's championships as the leader of a Miner offense that ranks fourth in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.18). The junior guard ranks third in the league in assists and 10th in scoring while also scoring double figures in 15 C-USA tilts.
Kaljo, who has been a big impact on the Green Wave after transferring in from Ventura College, averages 9.2 points per game and ranks third in C-USA in 3-pointers made (2.07). The Sherman Oaks, Calif., native also ranks third in C-USA in 3-point percentage (.428) and owns the top single-season mark in school history in 3-point percentage.
Caldwell, a 5-8 guard, has proven her strengths from behind the arc. She leads all freshman in 3-point field goal percentage (.423) and treys per game (2.25). The Missouri City, Texas, native also set a UTEP freshman record and the third-most triples in school history with (63) and is on track to become the fourth Miner freshman to surpass 300 points in a single-season.
Washington has provided strong play from the bench for Southern Miss as she has averages 7.7 points per game, fourth-best on the team, and sports a solid 3-point field goal percentage of .456. The sophomore guard has played in 29 games for the Lady Eagles, starting three.
In back-to-back seasons, SMU has claimed the C-USA Defensive Player of the Year. Gilliam is this year's winner, while former teammate Sharee Shepherd won the award in 2008. The Tyler, Texas, native has strong figures across the board as she ranks second in the league in steals, pocketing 2.45 per game, seventh in assists, dishing out 4.01 per game and ninth in scoring with 14.3 points per game. The 5-11 junior forward also ranks 11th in C-USA for most rebounds per game, hauling in 6.6 per contest.
Williams took the Knights from a 12th-place finish in 2008 to a tie for second in 2009. She has the fourth-youngest team in the nation with 12 freshmen and sophomores. The team finished with 11 conference wins, the combined number of C-USA wins the program had in its first three seasons in the league. UCF closed out the 2009 season with its eighth-straight home win, marking the longest in program history since the 2004 team won 10 in a row. UCF has also picked up a league-best six C-USA weekly awards this season (five Player of the Week and one Rookie of the Week selection).
The opening round of the 2009 C-USA Women's Basketball Championship will begin on Thursday, March 5, at Fogelman Arena in New Orleans, La. East Carolina, Marshall, Memphis, Rice, Tulane, Tulsa, UAB and UCF are competing in the opening round on Thursday, March 5. SMU, Houston, Southern Miss and UTEP all received first-round byes and will open tournament play on Friday, March 6.
2008-09 CONFERENCE USA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL INDIVIDUAL HONORS
Player of the Year
Jareica Hughes, G, UTEP, Jr., Southfield, Mich./Southfield-Lathrup
Coach of the Year
Joi Williams, UCF
Freshman Player of the Year
Dietra Caldwell, G, UTEP, 5-8, Fr., Missouri City, Texas/Thurgood Marshall
Newcomer of the Year
Indira Kaljo, G, Tulane, Jr., Sherman Oaks, Calif./Montclair Prep
Defensive Player of the Year
Brittany Gilliam, F, SMU, 5-11, Jr., Tyler Texas/Tyler
Sixth Player of the Year
Tanesha Washington, G/F, Southern Miss, 6-1, So., Clarksdale, Miss./Coahoma Co.
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